The Almost Perfect Plan
by oceanianow
Summary: When Lily meets a new boy at school,she can hardly believe her good luck. That is, until she can't find his name on the school records...


-1It happened during the first week of school. Lily was leaving the library when she rounded and corner and ran into a wall. At least, she thought it was a wall. She looked up and saw to her disbelief, a boy. And a rather good looking one at that.

"Oh, sorry," she muttered as she picked up her books. She was suddenly conscious that her hair must look a mess from the all of the neglect it had been receiving as of late.

"It's no problem," the boy smiled easily and Lily noticed his eyes seemed to dance. "I'm Dirk Sterling," he said and proffered her a strong hand to help her up.

"Really? The one and only Dirk Sterling?" Lily tried not to smile.

"You know me?" he asked, looking alarmed and ready to defend himself.

"No, I was just teasing. In fact, I've never seen you before to my recollection. Are you a seventh year too?" she asked, watching him visibly relax.

"That was not funny, " he chuckled in relief, "And yes, I'm a seventh year." As if reading her mind he spoke again, saying, "I'm in Ravenclaw. And judging by that daring move you just pulled, you must be from Gryffindor."

"Yes, I am."

""And where are you off to in such a hurry?" he questioned politely.

"Oh, nowhere in particular. I was just walking fast, I guess," Lily recalled her hopes of talking to Potter about the Masquerade they had planned as Head Boy and Head Girl. It was to be held this Saturday as a sort of "Welcome Back" dance, held for fourth years and above. Lily was pulled out of these thoughts when Dirk said,

"Would you like to go for a walk?"

Lily's breath caught in her throat. This guy wanted to spend more time with her? He wanted to get to know her better? She could hardly believe she wasn't dreaming. She suddenly felt an extreme desire to pinch herself to make sure she was indeed, awake.

"I'd love to," and with that she followed him out the castle doors and towards the lake. He started chatting to her about everyday, common things. Lily was surprised at how easy it was to talk to him. Even if there was silence, it wasn't awkward like it was with other boys Lily talked to. Not that she talked to a lot of other boys…

"You have stunning eyes," Dirk said abruptly.

"Oh, thank-you." Lily blushed and glanced down, and noticed her watch. It was getting late and she still had loads of homework before starting on her Head Girl duties. "I have to go…" she started, but before she could even take one step he said,

"Wait. I know we just met, but I was wondering if you would like to go the Masquerade with me. That is, if you don't already have a date," he added as an after-thought.

Lily thought about the only other offer she had received for the dance. James Potter had asked her, and there was no way she was going with him or going alone.

"I'd love to," she replied warmly.

"That's great! Let's meet in the Great Hall at 8 o'clock. I'll be holding a red rose, just for you." And before she could even blink, he had ran towards the castle and soon she could no longer see his tall figure as the heavy doors clanged loudly and shut behind him.

Lily took three deep breaths before slowly picking up her feet and walking towards the common room where she had to find a certain best friend of her's named Melody so she could explain that the most wonderful thing just happened.

Lily burst into the common room and immediately ran into none other than James Potter, who seemed strangely out of breath.

"Evans! Hey, would you like to go to the Masquerade with me?" he asked, even though she had already told him no.

"I already have a date Potter. Sorry."

"You have a date? Well then, no reason for me to go. I guess I'll have plenty of time to finish up homework that night," he said, trying to sound offhand.

"You're not going to go?" Lily asked, surprised at his declaration.

"If I can't go with you, why go at all?" James stated dramatically. Lily rolled her eyes and went to her dorm, where she found Melody flipping through a wizard fashion magazine.

"You'll never guess what just happened to me."

"Did you just eat a bowl of fruit?" she asked lazily, looking at the witches spinning in the dresses they modeled.

"Uh, no. I'm not really sure where that came from," Lily said, her brow furrowed at her quirky friend.

"You said I wouldn't be able to guess so I didn't really try," Melody explained. She was about to tune Lily out, seeing as she had just found a gorgeous ball gown, when Lily said,

"I just got asked to the ball by the most handsome boy I've ever seen!" Lily exclaimed, throwing her body on her bed to add affect.

Now she had Melody's attention. "Who?" she questioned, throwing the magazine on the floor and pushing Lily over so she could sit next to her on her bed.

Lily quickly explained everything from running into Dirk, how they had talked by the lake, and how he had asked to the Masquerade.

"Wow! That's so amazing. Gosh you're lucky," Melody whimpered. Lily suddenly remembered she had patrol duty and that she was almost late.

"Oh no! I'm going to be tardy if I don't run to the third floor right now! I bet Head Boy Potter is still sitting in the common room. Ugh, I guess I'll have to drag him along," Lily said as she ran posthaste to the door and down the stairs.

"Oh, come on Potter! We're going to be late." He barely noticed a flash of red before he saw the portrait hole swing open. James didn't need telling twice when it came to following Lily Evans anywhere, and acted accordingly as he scurried out of the room with a flurry of waves to his friends.

"Evans! I can't believe that you were almost late," he said, as he caught up to her side once they had reached their appointed patrolling floor.

"I know. It was so irresponsible of me but I was busy talking to Melody and... Wait, why am I telling you all of this?" Lily had stopped walking and turned to face the popular Quidditch player.

"It's because I'm such a good listener," he explained with a serious look on his face.

Lily busted out laughing and got told off by some sleeping portraits for waking them up.

"Sorry," she muttered. Potter. A good listener. What a joke.

"You can't even pay attention to what your friends say when you're eating, let alone learn anything in class. You just ignore the teacher and hope they don't call on you."

James was still under the spell of her ringing laughter while she waited for her to say something witty back.

"You're not even listening now!" Lily accused. She hurriedly started walking away from him and didn't wait for the lame reply she knew he would eventually think of later.

He watched her stalk off and knew that somehow he had blown it once again...


End file.
